Chapter 22 Chapter Nine Doing Everything Just For Her Smile

April day, east of Haojing city. This is the office of the capital officials, and the majestic Haojing Palace stands not far away. Magnificent buildings, luxurious palaces. But that was just an extremely distant place, visible but out of reach. During the short break in the afternoon, Yang Tongye always likes to sit in this position, staring at the direction of the capital city in a daze. Because he knew that in a certain dark corner of the palace, there was the person he loved the most in his heart. A year ago, he stepped into the city of Haojing again from the mountains and forests, and when he was hunting with King Xuan of Zhou in his hand, the horsewhip of the ceremonial official Gong Shubao came to the vicinity of the palace of the city of Haojing.

"If you want to serve the country," Gong Shubao said at the time, "come to me with this token." As a result, Yang Tongye changed from a free hunter in the mountains and forests to a small guard of the ritual official unit of the Zhou Dynasty. If someone told him a few years ago that he would become such a wretched soldier, he would not believe it to death. But a few years later, when Yang Tongye was actually standing guard at the gate of the Palace of Rites, bending his knees to the passing officials, his heart was filled with a sense of peace and satisfaction. Isn't that what happens in the human world?

Of course there is only one person who will make Yang Tongye make such a big change. In other words, a beautiful figure. Concubine. Serving as a guard in such a small unit is not a glorious thing, and being a guard seems simple, but it is quite a heavy job. Just imagine, how unpleasant it is to be kicked awake by a rude officer on duty in the middle of a deep sleep at night, and then stand for two hours at night? Also, when there is an accident, it is even more necessary to act as a human wall in front of high-ranking officials, and to deal with all the changes with flesh and blood. How life-threatening is it?

However, in Yang Tongye's heart, it was such a thought. "As long as I can be closer to her and guard her all the time, I don't care at all." There are actually other advantages to being a guard in the Palace of Rites. For example, there are many court officials here, and there are mixed messages coming and going. More or less, you can also hear one or two related to Baosi. news. It is said that as soon as Baosi entered the palace, he was favored by King Zhou You in every possible way. This flashy king seemed to love Baosi very much. Some court officials also said that because he loved her too much, King Zhou You still loved her. There was a record of not dealing with state affairs for ten days.

I heard that Bao Si is a woman who doesn't like to smile very much. Although King Zhou You obeyed her, it was a smile that was rare for a thousand gold to buy a beauty. It is said that the queen of Zhou Youwang was very dissatisfied with Baosi, so the prince Yijiu, who was protecting his mother, had conflicts with Baosi. It is said, I don't know where, that Baosi likes to hear the sound of tearing silk, so King Zhou You arranged a mountain of silk to be torn day and night in the palace by powerful maids. Although it was all rumored news, it was already a great comfort to Yang Tongye.

From these "hearings", we can roughly know that the general courtiers and people have a bad impression of Bao Si, and because of this, Yang Tongye feels that he should stay in Haojing City. If someone bullies Bao Si, he will Even if you risk your life, you must protect her well. The later rumors made the confident Yang Tongye feel a little sad. It is said that Baosi had given birth to a baby boy in the deep palace, which made King Zhou You feel like a treasure and declared amnesty for the whole city, and all the officials and guards Bonus rewards. But Yang Tongye himself knew that as long as it was Baosi's matter, he would support it to the end. Even though she had given birth to a child with King Zhou You, she was still his favorite woman.

Such days passed quite quickly, because Yang Tongye performed well in the group of guards, he was soon promoted to the head of the guards, and occasionally he could accompany the officials of the upper court into the palace. It was because of this kind of karma that he could occasionally see Bao Si's figure from a distance during the celebration and sacrificial ceremony. Once, during the Zhou King's ancestor worship ceremony, there was only a distance of twenty steps between Yang Tongye and Baosi. He peeked at her in the army and found that Baosi had become more beautiful and radiant. Bao Si has completely lost the coquettishness of that little girl back then, replaced by the maturity and beauty of a noble lady.

However, just like the rumors said, she always has sad eyes, rarely smiles, and her face is full of resentment. Thinking of her oath before entering the palace, Yang Tongye couldn't help but shed tears. I really want to tell her that there is no need to smile because of this oath, but in the era of the Zhou Dynasty, it is absolutely impossible for a guard to meet the king's favorite concubine. Therefore, Yang Tongye's longing for her can only stay at the level of looking at her from a distance. However, it is enough to be able to wait for her from a distance like this. At this time, the situation of the whole country is not a stable situation.

Yang Tongye served as the leader of the guards in the Palace of Rituals, and he had a fairly direct understanding of the military affairs that came and went. He knew that the current King Zhou You was a prodigal son who only loved to have fun, and had no interest in military affairs. But the city outside the city of the Zhou Dynasty was in danger at the moment. After the conflict between Prince Yijiu and Baosi that day, he was relegated by King Zhou You to the care of the prince's grandfather, Shenhou. The queen of King Zhou You was the daughter of Shenhou. , to demote the Queen Shen, but since the Queen Shen has never made any major mistakes, there is still no way to do what she wants.

Many veterans and famous generals in the court advised King You of Zhou in every possible way, but King You either turned a deaf ear to it, or simply became furious and expelled the speaker. As a result, the famous officials in the court were disheartened, and most of them told their old age to return home, leaving only a group of sycophants shameless minister. So far, the domestic worry situation has been formed. In terms of foreign aggression, the Yidi tribe outside the city of Haojing has recently become aggressive and powerful, and several small border countries have been annexed by them.

According to the soldiers guarding the border, the Yidi tribe has recently assembled an army to prepare for war, and the troops are constantly spying and wandering outside the country. Gaojing is not far from the Yidi base area. Yang Tongye had heard about the origins of these Yidi tribes at the Gonggong Office, and knew that they were closely related to the extraordinary ability of the Dimenghun clan. Although he had never seen the Yidi troops, he had seen the abilities of the Yuanshen tribe. , as long as there are so few Yidi, they should be quite difficult opponents in the battle. Among the troops of the Zhou Dynasty, there was no lack of insightful generals. In view of the threat from the Yidi, they discussed with the major kingdoms under the dynasty, and agreed that if the Yidi came to invade, they would set off beacon fires as a letter. If the signal is given, rescue will come. The beacon tower was built in the middle of the capital city of Hao, near the royal palace, where the troops of the Zhou Dynasty built a towering giant platform, and piled up wolf dung on the platform. That wolf dung is the most smoky thing in the world. In any case, as long as the wolf dung is ignited, thick smoke will rise to the sky, which can be clearly seen hundreds of miles away. However, the torrent of history is so paradoxical. At that time, the red-clothed children in Haojing City once taught children all over the city to sing such a song: "The yellow and bright new moon is about to rise, and the bright red sun is about to set. The bow of mulberry wood! The quiver made of scorpion grass, the girl of the Shenlong family, almost...will perish the state of Zhou...the moon will rise, the sun will disappear, and I hate the scorpion, and the state of Zhou will almost perish..." Because of this ballad, Si Da's wife died unexpectedly, and Si Da died in Baocheng. It was also because of this ballad that the little Bao Si who was floating on the river was adopted by Si Da. At that time, King Xuan of Zhou thought that he killed the woman who sold the quiver of Ji Cao, so he broke the prophecy of the collapse of the Zhou Dynasty. But he did not expect that after more than ten years, the woman who wanted to make the Zhou Dynasty pay the heaviest price would still enter King Zhou's palace. And thinking about Bao Si's origin, she is indeed a "girl from Shenlong's family". "...the moon will rise, the sun will disappear, and the country of Zhou will almost perish..." Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, it has been the eleventh year of King Zhou You, which is also the fourth year since Bao Si entered the palace. For the past four years, Yang Tongye has quietly served in the Palace of Rituals, always paying attention to the news in the palace, but he has never spoken to Bao Si, and he has never even had a face-to-face meeting. It's not because there is no way out, but because Yang Tongye has experienced several drastic changes in his life in the past few years, he has gained another level of understanding of fate. He knows that there are many things in this world that cannot be forced, and he also knows that some things will have bad consequences if the time is not right and if he insists on taking them. Like himself, who has now been promoted to the title of palace guard, it is not impossible for him to meet Bao Si. But so what? If she can't change the status quo, won't she be sad in the deep palace in vain if she meets her? If someone must be sad, Yang Tongye hopes that all the pain will be borne by himself, as long as Bao Si lives well. Over the years, he also knows that Baosi is still very much loved by King Zhou You, but her stubbornness of not wanting to laugh or smile is still the same. King Zhou You tried every means, just to get a smile from the beautiful woman, but the results were not good. . If you don't know the source of her reluctance to smile, so what if it's gold, silver, jewelry, silk and satin? Also because of this, this fatuous king of Zhou thought of a stupid trick that even a child would not be able to use, intending to win a smile from a beautiful woman. And it was this bad idea that brought the Zhou Dynasty to the fate of almost collapsing.